Steel Pier Theatre & Steel Pier Ocean Theatre

I only saw one movie there as a twin and it was in the smaller theater and the projection was terrible.

Re the Ventnor twinning, the much larger auditorium on the left was wide and had a really big scope screen but no masking and Dolby Stereo wasn’t installed until most other theaters had DTS, etc. The other smaller auditorium was a bit of a strange affair, the screen had movable side masking but the screen was unusually high off the floor. Toward the end, the projection in the large auditorium was generally pretty good but the projection in the smaller room was pretty awful.

Another Frank abomination (the Town Twin and later Town 16 weren’t that bad) was the Point Four which was a bowling ally converted into a four screener. No masking, mono sound, incredibly austere interior….cheap, cheap, cheap.

The Franks destroyed the beautiful Strand Theater in Ocean City. It’s a shame, I wish I could find more pictures of the old AC theaters, especially shots of the interiors. Wish I would have thought of doing that myself back in the day.

I worked one summer at what had been the Roxy when they turned it into an indoor kiddie ride park called “The Land of Oz”. The Franks basically turned the Embassy into a Blaxploitation/Kung Fu flick house. The Apollo really went to seed under Frank management. After a fire they never even repaired the screen which had been damaged (it literally had been burned down to 1.85 to 1). Back in the 60’s/early 70’s the Hamid theaters primarily showed films from Fox, Universal and Warners. The Apollo Circuit had MGM and Paramount and the Beach always seemed to show a lot of United Artists product.The Charles in its heyday was actually considered an “Art House” with foreign films and more high brow and prestige US films like the Godfather. The only theaters I was never in was The Capital (I was too young to get in to the summer Burlesque and skin flicks in the winter) and the Astor which was more of a neighborhood house with second runs, double features, grindhouse type films, etc. The Franks apparently even ruined the Astor turning it into the “Town Cinema” and covered the marquee with a cardboard sign which literally turned to mush from the rain.

The Franks built the Town Twin (later expanded to 4 and then 16) from the ground up at the Shore Mall next to the Atlantic Drive-In. For a Twin built from the ground up it was mediocre at best. One decently sized room and one smaller room with what my Father termed “A postage stamp screen”. After growing up with the big AC palaces it was a bit of a shock for me. However the real issue was the too frequent presentation issues: out of focus projection, poor framing, films breaking or burning up in the projector and while there was side masking, its use was inconsistent to say the least. Welcome to the world of Frank Theaters. Everything done on the cheap, indifferent quality control, etc, etc. In fairness, apparently the current state of the Frank chain has improved. I actually went to Jr and Sr High School with Bruce Frank who is now the CEO and he might have done some things to change that bad old Frank Theater culture.

Actually born and raised in AC and Ventnor. Had lot’s of extended family in Philly though and eventually migrated there myself. You’re memory is better than mine when it comes to dates. I’m pretty good with remembering which theater I saw the films. One thing I do recall, out of focus, film breaking and burning in the projectors, etc seemed to start happening at the Frank Theater’s brand new Town Twin.

I specifically recall seeing Patton at the Shore with my father but I don’t recall it being a roadshow…it certainly wasn’t being presented in D150, 70mm, etc. I wish I could recall more about the roadshows in AC. The one’s I saw, The Sand Pebbles and The Blue Max were in the summer. Dr. Doolittle in 70mm at the Hollywood was not in the summer. One thing I do remember about those theaters in AC was never seeing anything out of focus or looking dim like the projector light was turned down or worn out. I would assume all those old theaters were still using carbon arc lamps and experienced union projectionists to run them. The last film I saw at the Shore was the Bruce Lee film “The Chinese Connection”. It already had a run at the Beach and while the print had more than a bit of wear/damage (like most Hong Kong “Chop Socky” flicks of that era) it still looked very good. I don’t have any problem with today’s digital projection (it’s seems a bit more idiot proof) but if you didn’t get to see a new 35mm film print (much less 70mm) projected properly through a well maintained carbon arc lamp projector onto a 50 ft screen you really missed out.

Just a guess on my part but one reason why they stopped using the curtains at some of these theaters is because they were running “continuous showings” or “grind” where once the main feature ended (and back in those days there was little or no end title crawl, just “The End” and the film company logo) the trailers, cartoon (remember those?), etc would start up immediately and run that way all day and night like a continuous loop through the two projectors. Some believe that once the monopoly of the film companies owning the first run theaters was broken up that it was the beginning of the decline of great film presentation. Those film companies had strict rules for proper presentation. Curtains were to be used before and after the main feature, trailers, cartoons and short subjects and screen masking adjusted behind the closed curtain (an empty screen was never to be seen).

I think that the question regarding the Center and the Hollywood is not whether they had curtains and masking but if at some point they just stopped using them. I have always wondered if by the mid 70’s they just started the bad practice of showing everything at 2.0 to 1. Apparently this was not uncommon at that time. I do recall ‘scope films at the Roxy always looking to be every bit of 2.39 to 1. When I saw the French Connection in '71 (actually New Years Eve) at the Hollywood I do recall the film being 1.85 to 1 without any empty screen being exposed so there must have either been black masking or the curtain used to mask off the ends of the screen. Most of the films that I have any real memory of at the Center were 'scope and that theater was very wide and that curved screen went almost wall to wall (my guess is it was constructed in front of the original proscenium arch or the arch was busted out when the theater was converted to 'scope and 70mm in the 50’s).

If they were showing non-scope in the Casino at 1.66 to 1 on what was probably a 50 foot wide 2.40 to 1 screen with the side masking retracted it would certainly appear square. I agree with you 100% regarding the Virginia vs the Roxy. But what was more of an issue to me is that the Virginia just wasn’t up to the standards of a “Roadshow” house. The screen needed to be bigger and have proper masking and a curtain and the truth is, the theater in general was more than a bit plain, drab and run down looking. My guess is the owners just didn’t want to invest the money into a very large, old theater like the Roxy…but it sure would have been something if they had. The use of the regular screen curtains as masking in the Hamid theaters probably explains why I never noticed masking in the Center, Hollywood, etc. The Center (which had a great huge curved screen) and the Hollywood did have 70mm and roadshows and were certainly worthy of doing them. It is also just beyond me why the dumpy Shore Theater was chosen for the roadshows of Cleopatra and Patton. Again, not a question of the size of the theater but no masking or curtain and a generally uninspiring theater interior. I would also guess no multi-channel sound either.

I was so young when I went to Steel Pier that some memories are very vivid and some things are very cloudy to say the least. I recall the screen in the Music Hall not being the width of the entire stage but still a pretty good size screen. You never got to see them hoist up that screen because all the curtains and drapes would close first. With regards to the Casino, back in the 60’s it always impressed me as being definitely purpose built to be a movie theater and with its squarish shape and wide proscenium arch well suited to the ‘scope and widescreen era. I don’t recall anything unusual about how 1.85 films were shown in the Casino. I saw “Help”, which was probably shot 1.66 to 1 but my recollection is that it was shown 1.85 to 1 in the Casino as it most likely was in most theaters in the US. I don’t recall the film appearing to be overly square or “window boxed” on the Casino screen. I do specifically remember going to a midnight screening of “Pink Flamingos” at the Strand theater which was almost across from the Pier and that was definitely a window boxed 1.66 to 1 16mm print shown in the center of the screen. Is it possible that Steel Pier snuck in some 16mm prints sometimes? It might explain the square look.

Thanks for the clarification. As I recall, before its conversion to the “Music Hall” the Casino had a decent sized ‘scope screen. Even if they needed to go to a “flying screen” there was no reason except being cheap for installing something that looked like it belonged in an elementary school auditorium.